Neon Tetra Wanting To Be A Black Neon Tetra

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dapope12

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today i went to stock my new 75 gallon tank which already had a giant danio and a neon tetra. i decided to buy 4 neon tetras and 6 black neon tetras (i was going to buy a few giant danios but the store only had 3 and 2 of which looked sickly). once the fish were in i was expecting the neon tetra to go and join in with the new neon tetras, well it didnt....instead it decided to join the group of black neon tetras. i've been watching it for the past 4 hours and it still has not joned the neon tetra group.

has anyone has this type of behaivior? will this cause a problem?



the neon tetra looks really funny in the school of black neon tetras
 
The schooling instinct of certain fish was a trait developed that has helped certain species live, breed, and survive. Schooling would be useful for many situations which include (but are not limited to) predation and feeding. These benefits are primarily useful for small fish, such as tetras, who would become easy targets for predators do to their very small size (though small species are not the only schoolers, many large fish are also schoolers). Natural selection was not so kind to some species of fish, so in order to survive and reproduce, they evolved, and formed the trait of schooling. Whether it be to avoid predators or to feed, certain species developed the trait of schooling for a particular reason(s). Schooling gives fish the sense of security. When they are not in a school, which would only happen in captivity such as an aquarium and not in the wild, their natural instincts are fooled around with. In this case they could become very aggressive as in the case of barbs, or become very skittish and hide as in the case of Pygocentrus piranha species. In many fish they may even die or have their health seriously damaged when not in a school. This is why it is important to keep schooling fish, such as your danio and tetra, in schools. Sometimes, the urge of security is overwhelming and many fish will shoal with similar species as with your neons and black-neons. Scats and monos are not even in the same family, but will school together when there are not enough monos or scats, again for this sense of security.


i've been watching it for the past 4 hours and it still has not joned the neon tetra group.

has anyone has this type of behaivior? will this cause a problem?
This behavior is common when there are not enough of one species to make the fish feel secure. It is by no means ideal, but will do no harm. Bottom line, you need at least 6 neons and 6 danios or you fish will be harmed.
 
has anyone has this type of behaivior? will this cause a problem?
the neon tetra looks really funny in the school of black neon tetras

seems a bit odd but I don't see it as a problem - maybe he doesn't know he's a neon tetra :huh:
given time he'll probably get together with the others

I had one neon in with a group of cardinals - so I got two more neons one of which prompty died - the remaining two are always bickering - they both seem to prefer the company of the cardinals. There's more similarity in colour there though.

AMS - dapope has already said that he intends to get more danios and whilst 6 is often quoted as the minimum number I don't think having 5 will cause much harm
 
I have a similar schooling thing. 1 of my Neons prefers the company of the 4 Zebra Danios. Neither species seems to be bothered by the other. So I now have a 50/50 split. :) In fact they all get along really well from what I have seen.

Rich
 
AMS - dapope has already said that he intends to get more danios and whilst 6 is often quoted as the minimum number I don't think having 5 will cause much harm
Yes, I agree that 5 wont do any harm but it is not ideal, 6 seems to be the universal acceptance, but I suggest at least 9 per school.
 
i have 10 Cardinals,8 Neons,6 Black Neons and 8 Rummy Nose Tets and there all always together occasionally the Rummys & Black Neons split off,otherwise they just race each other up and down the tank,its amusing to watch,Ive had them for 6 months & theyve never been any different!
 
This behavior is common when there are not enough of one species to make the fish feel secure. It is by no means ideal, but will do no harm. Bottom line, you need at least 6 neons and 6 danios or you fish will be harmed.

Thats never been a problem for me, i always like to keep at least 3 of the same kind, but i find if they live with lots of other small fish with similar habits its not much of a problem. I have 4 white cloud mountain minnows, 4 black neons, 4 red eye tetras and just two marbled hatchets(i started off with 3 because thats all the shop had and 1 jumped out over holidays). None of the fish seem to school much anyway they just evenly spread themselves out the aquarium, occasionally chasing each other and doing thier own thing. The only time they school is at night when they go up beside the hatchets, although this is probably to avoid my synadontis, or when im cleaning the tank.
Even when i have large groups of the same fish like 10 neons they never schooled, prefering to interact with the danios. I personally dont think this has harmed any of my fish at all, because from what i can see they are happy. Its not a good idea at all to keep an individual schooling fish in a tank, but i find that how the fish reacts depends on if the tanks in a busy room, the other fish in the tank and how the tank is layed out.
 
maybe he's just being smart. Maybe he thinks more fish in school=less chance of being eaten by a predator. Even though there arent any predators in your tank he still could have the instinct.
 
are the neons smaller than him? If the black neons are closer in size than the other neons he might choose to be with them
 
They actually do that in pet stores a lot. They will school together back neons and normal ones to save more space. So they might have been in a school with neons before.
 
I have a single bolivian ram in a tank with 6 tiger barbs. The ram sometimes schools with the barbs at mid level. Rams normally hang out near the substrate. Not mine. Funny.
 
They actually do that in pet stores a lot. They will school together back neons and normal ones to save more space. So they might have been in a school with neons before.
Yeah I had black neons and glowlight neons and they both school with my neon tetras
 

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